The Garden.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 284, 25 July 1888, Page 3

The Garden.

Old Orchards. Orchards that have been established awayback in what may be called the early days of the colony, have generally been allowed to get into a bad state. Ifc will be noticed that the trees give less fruit, and that no r so large or well - flavoured, as in formefc years. The trees have been allowed to grow too many branches, a large number of which are either partially or wholly dead, or else fche branches are long, thin, and straggling, with a few spurs here and there, in most cases covered with fungoid growth, and cankered. Very often the trees will (if apple) be covered with American blight, or perhaps with scale or some other parasitic insect. The first thing to be done is to make up the mind that a radical change must be made in this diseased 3tate of the trees, which in most instances has been brought about through neglect. In a number of instances this deterioration in the trees has been brought about by poverty of hhe soil, tor if not originally poor, the trees tove in time exhausted the soil of its fruitproducing qualities. Now, to remedy the above, a thorough, system of piuning and manuring of each tree must take place. In pruning, all dead or decaying branches should first be cut out, and if the tree has been much neglected some of the living branches and limbs should also be cub out. When cutting out these see that they are cut where you wi&h the tree to make new wood, as it will probably be upon the newwood that the tree will make that future ciopf will most depend. Do not cut out too many of the old limbs the first year, as that would probably cause the tree to throw out rank strong wood ; probably i about one-fourth of the old limbs would be | sufficient the first season, following every season with another fourth till the whole of the old wood has disappeared. After the pruning of the tree, the stem and branches must be thoroughly cleaned of their various parasites, for a tree can no more support parasitical insects or fungoid growth and remain healthy, than can an animal. The moss and fungus can easily be killed by using a wash made from lime. This should be rubbed well into the crevices and put on as heavy as il will lie. ishfc wash will also kill a large number of Afle and other insects that infest trees. te.xTa the pruning and dressing is completed see to what state the soil is in, in regaid to moisture. If the soil be boggy or wet and heavy, some measure must be taken to drain. The best system of drainage is underground drains —that is, thi-ee-inch tiles placed about three feet deep in the ground. Where such cannot be easily obtained, open ditches will take off a large quantity of surface water and do an immense deal of good. After the drainage all the trees should receive a good dressing of manure in some form or another. The best of all manures is what is called barnyard manure, that is, a mixture of all kinds of manure usually to be obtained about a farm. Here I would remark that manures should not in our climate be used indiscriminately all through the season, leust of all just at the end of the growing season, lest an autumnal growth be started at the time the trees should be going to rest. The proper time to manure all deciduous trees is just when the sap begins to ris-e in the spring of the year. The soluble parts will then be washed down to the fibres just at the time they are most capable of taking it and sending it up the tree, Avheie it will be formed into wood, leaf, or fruit, according to the capabilities of the tree. When putting on manure, pee that it- is spread all over the surface beneath each ti cc, to the extent, at least, of the ground covered by the branches. Most of the feeding roots will always be found at some considerable distance from the bole of the tree. Before taking in hand any remedial measures &o as to renovate any old tree, it should be well considered whether such tree is worth the trouble. In this colony there are thousands of trees which have been planted in situations and soils not adapted for them ; consequently, they turn out utterly worthless. AH such should be taken out and others planted, or headed back and grafted with some other variety that has proved to be good in a similar situation. But recollect that it a tree has ever borne good crops of good fruit, it is capable of again doing so, if it has not utterly gone to the bad with canker or decay. Recollect too that it is easier and quicker in some cases to bring old trees back into a good fiuit-bearing condition than toobbainthesamefrom young trees.

Pruning Citrus Trees. Although 1 do not think that any pait of the climate of New Zealand will ever be able to compete with either the northern portion of Australia or the Islands in the pioduction of a first-class orange, our climate not possessing a sufficiently high temperritme, still there will always be a large number of orchardings towards the North of Aiickland who Avill grow a considerable number of treeb, and a good knowledge of how to prune them will be of advantage. With this object in view I ■will lepiinta paper read by J. W. Sailer, of Pomona, published in the " San Francisco Chronicle"' :— In the matter of pruning trees, as in all other matters of horticulture, there are fundamental principles of nature underlying all methods, and the nearer the method corresponds with the fundamental principles the 1-otter the method. Then the hi.st tiling to lemn in pruning any kind of a tree i? to know the nature of the growth of the tree, the second thing to know is fche object for which you prune. The orange tree is a native of a fciopical country, with abundant rainfall. The foliage is very dense, thoroughly protecting the body of the tree and ground beneath the branches from the sun's rays ; hence the roots grow near the siu'face of the giound. It is, therefore, a great wrong to expose the tree trunk or grow mound the same to the scorching rays of a noonday sun. To secure a good stock to begin with, the seedling should be four yeais old before the bud is inserted. Tho seedling stock should be well cultivated, irrigated and manured, so that the growth may be vigorous. No pruning should be done to the seedling stock, for the giowth of both top and root depends upon the healthy condition of both, and the more abundant the ioliage tho better. If it grows scraggy, let it grow. If a seedling tree is> desired, cut the top and branches from the seedling stock the winter after the fourth year's growth. Allow but one bud to grow the following season. This "will grow six or eight feet high, straight and beautiful. Transplant the following season,-i.e., when the root is fi\ c years old. (To be Continued.)

The rumour that the Prince of Wales was going to visit America thivS year is formally denied. Crematorie& are to be opened in Turin, San Homo, Bologna, and other Italian cities. Toads are an article of merchandise in Paris, being kept in bubs and sold at the rate of t\v francs a dozen.